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Many heavy-handed security staff don’t appear to understand the law when it comes to citizen photography. Trouble is, neither do the photographers. As the Olympic Games draw near, cameramen of all kinds say they are becoming the targets of excessive security and frequently laughable measures. Metro investigates.

Photographers are becoming angry and frustrated at the excessive security

There can’t be many similarities between former Communist Ukraine and a modern, gleaming London gearing up for the Olympics.

But east London film-maker Hilary Powell couldn’t help seeing parallels when she returned from a trip to eastern Europe where she had been constantly hassled by officials for photographing former KGB buildings.

Back home in Hackney Wick, and filming around the Olympic site, Ms Powell said she ‘noticed it more and more, increasingly violent opposition to anyone with a camera’.

‘There were security guards with dogs trying to intimidate you into giving them your camera tapes, telling you they own them and are protecting their clients, despite the fact they have no official authority,’ she said. ‘It’s always in the name of anti-terrorism. And many photographers don’t know their rights under the law.’

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Their rights are surprisingly simple, as Jeff Moore, chairman of the British Press Photographers’ Association, explained to Metro. Provided you are standing in a public place, you have every right to snap away to your heart’s content, with just a couple of exceptions, including some Crown property and the Royal Parks.

But that hasn’t stopped over-zealous police officers and private security guards, often clueless about the law, from trying.

Mr Moore said he saw this for himself in Westminster only last month, when employees of private security firm G4S tried to stop Japanese tourists taking photos in the street by covering their lenses.

Photographer Jules Mattsson was observing an Armed Forces Day parade through the centre of Romford, Essex, in June 2010, when he attracted the attention of police officers who claimed it was illegal to take photos of the event. An inspector told Mr Mattsson, then aged 15, that he was a hazard and said taking photos in public was ‘anti-social behaviour’.

The conversation, which he recorded, ended with the inspector telling him: ‘I consider you a threat under the Terrorism Act, young man. I’ve had enough.’

He was taken away by several officers and tried, unsuccessfully, to film them. One of them even complained it was ‘breaching his privacy’.

Mr Mattsson was then arrested for breach of the peace and detained for 15 minutes before being released.

His civil case against them resulted in the Met Police paying compensation, legal costs and issuing an apology.

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But sanctions against the five officers were limited to what the force described as ‘local management action’. A Met spokesman said it ranged from ‘a slap on the wrist to re-training’ but does not include a warning.

Alan Sparrow, picture editor at Metro, said photographers across Britain are getting angry and frustrated.

‘There is a general feeling among photographers that they don’t like being bundled into the same category as terrorists and paedophiles,’ he added.

Jess Hurd, a freelance photographer, is co-founder of campaign group ‘I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist’ and chair of the National Union of Journalists’ London Photographers’ Branch. She went with four colleagues last month for a walk around the perimeter of the Olympic stadium to see if their fears that the Games would prompt further suppression were justified. They were quickly stopped by security guards employed by G4S – which will have more than 10,000 staff working across the Olympic sites.

Police were called, and they informed the guards they had no right to impede the photographers as they were on public land.

‘It’s just complete paranoia,’ said Ms Hurd. ‘We have an issue with security guards not knowing the law, but believing they are above the law. We have definitely seen a rise in stops in the run-up to the Games.’

Another London-based photographer, who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of attracting more attention from the police, said he had his camera pointed at the stadium in November 2010 when a police car pulled up.

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‘The policewoman got out and shouted, ‘‘Take your hand out of your pocket”, as if I had a gun,’ he said. ‘She grabbed my arm and propelled me into the back of the vehicle. I explained I was there as part of a six-month project commissioned by English Heritage, and asked if this was going to happen every day.

‘One of the officers handed over a business card and said that every time I get down here, ring this number and say the following phrase: “Hello boys, I’m on the ground”. I was trying to stifle my laughter. I found it all heavy-handed but comical.’

Since then, the documentary photographer said the police have been replaced by ‘lumpen bouncer types who work for G4S and just say no to any photography, using intimidation and muscle’. Adam Mynott, of G4S, said: ‘I would like to assure you that our staff are trained to comply with the law and act with courtesy. Any occasion where these standards are not met is regrettable and the employees are dealt with.’

But many people are concerned about the gaps in our history that will result from this unofficial crackdown on citizen photography.

‘Our social history is simply not going to be recorded,’ said Mr Moore. ‘All that will be left is some grainy CCTV footage owned by the government.’